WASHINGTON — Emerging from the Metro station onto the National
Mall Saturday morning, I saw a beautiful movement to right a vast
wrong. Protesters of every age, race, and nationality stood
together as one. Their songs were full of joy and their steps
punctuated with righteous indignation. They cheerfully exhorted
passersby, who joined the cause, impassioned by the spectacle
before them. In that moment it seemed a great evil could be
vanquished, and truth prevail.
The seeds of Utopia took root. The sun shone down. Oh yeah, and
a bunch of dirty hippies and black-masked anarchists were holding
their own pow-wow across the way.
My cold skeptic’s heart was on the verge of melting until I
realized I’d stumbled into the Walk Against Diabetes, not the much
ballyhooed war protest held in the capital of the American Imperial
Empire on the same day. Up until this point I’d always had a “hate
the disease, love the candy bar” philosophy with regard to
diabetes. But the marchers won me over with focused, intelligent
arguments, and the passion of recent converts.
I arrived at the anti-war rally primed for discourse, but,
sadly, it came up short. The whole affair was a bit regressive,
like the second season of “Joe Millionaire” or “The Bachelor.”
Sure, there’s still an audience for it, but it isn’t nearly as vast
as it once was. The sensationalism is gone, the novelty worn thin.
I had the feeling that an opportunity to accomplish something truly
great had been wasted: At the height of the march around the White
House I was convinced that if someone called in the Guinness Book
of World Records people, they could have verified the biggest
hackeysack circle in the history of mankind.
The protest organizers, led by ANSWER, which stands for Act Now
to Stop War and End Racism, was undeterred by the underwhelming
turnout at this rally. “The movement has gotten a very big gust of
wind in its sails at the very moment that the Bush administration
is slipping in the polls,” ANSWER Chairman Brian Becker
optimistically opined.
Now, there are many cogent, logical arguments that can be made
against the war. Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak, and other conservatives
made these eloquently throughout the run-up to the recent fracas in
Iraq. But can you imagine ANSWER getting into bed with any of those
guys? Indeed, an entire gaggle of protesters walked by with signs
that read, “Stop Terrorism: Deport Republicans.”
ANSWERites have embraced an over-hyped, Stalinist, and sometimes
silly approach to the anti-war cause. The plethora of Kucinich for
President placards and buttons on hand at the rally was one strong
indicator that they were out of touch with mainstream America.
Kucinich is running at less than one percent in national polls,
which, considering the margin of error, means he has captured the
imagination of anywhere between three and negative-three percent of
the American people.
Another signal was the abundance of Palestinian flags and
similar symbols. Many protesters wore red and green scarves with
the Arabic script across the bottom. Until this rally, I had only
seen them in martyrdom videos that make the news from time to
time.
Maybe we’re just dealing with the vanguard of the party here,
but if this is the vanguard, I’d hate to meet their proletariat.
ANSWER’s platform is a confusing mess which was echoed by the
chanting crowd. Protesters called for the impeachment of President
George W. Bush and for the immediate withdrawal of the United
States military from Iraq. Not exactly the most humanitarian or
realistic approach, given the circumstances, but an understandable
position. However, rolled up in the war protest was a potpourri of
strange causes. Here’s a smattering of slogans from the rally (all
caps and lowercase in originals):
“End Oppressive Schools: Youth Shouldn’t be a Prison.”
“F—- Bush: Deport me to Amsterdam.”
“Defend North Korea, Cuba, and China.”
“End Imperialist Occupation of Puerto Rico.”
Some of the groups taking to the streets included the Raging
Grannies, a group of older women who sing anti-Bush folk songs; the
cross dressing Universal Women’s Peace Organization; and four dogs
with a sign that read “Barking for Peace.”
Sure, there were more serious people on hand — namely, veterans
and those who, sadly, have lost loved ones in Iraq. One can
appreciate their sacrifice and loss. But they were certainly a
minority. And while there was much lip service for “patriotic
dissent,” the few hundred pro-American counter marchers provided
the only truly challenging rhetoric of the day. Organized by the
Free Republic and ProtestWarrior.com, much of the true blue
contingent hitched rides to the protests on ANSWER buses by posing
as revolutionaries.
The anti-protesters carried signs with slogans such as, “We Gave
Peace a Chance, and We Got 9/11” and “End Arab Occupation of Jewish
Land.” For their troubles they faced a near media blackout, were
threatened and harangued by the pacifists, and their porta-toilets
were stopped up several times by activists.
I don’t mean to underplay the entertainment value of Saturday’s
protest: It beat any number of new movies hands down. But if the
anti-war movement continues to be spoken for by muddle-headed
Stalinists, it may suffer some blowback of its own. If a vote for
Bush becomes a vote against the dread-locked girl in a ripped
tank-top that reads, “Bleed Capitalist Pigs,” it isn’t even going
to be a close call.
Shawn Macomber is an intern at The American
Spectator. He runs the website Return of the
Primitive.
